CHAP. VII DAILY LIFE 123 



house, or by some weird cry from the depths of the 

 jungle. 



In the old days the peace of the night was 

 occasionally broken an hour before the dawn by the 

 yells of an attacking force, and by the flames roar- 

 ing up from bundles of shavings thrown beneath 

 the house. But happily attacks of this kind are no 

 longer made, save in some few remoter parts of 

 the interior where the European governments have 

 not yet fully established their authority. 



The even tenor of the life of a village is inter- 

 rupted from time to time by certain festivals or 

 other incidents — the harvest festival ; the marriage 

 or the naming of a chiefs son or daughter ; the 

 arrival of important guests (one or more chiefs 

 with bands of followers coming to make peace, or 

 nowadays the resident magistrate of the district) ; 

 the funeral of a chief; the preparations for war or 

 for a long journey to the distant bazaar of Chinese 

 traders in the lower part of the river ; the necessity 

 of removing to a new site ; an epidemic of disease ; 

 the rites of formally consulting the omens, or other- 

 wise communicating with and propitiating the gods; 

 the operations of the soul-catcher. The more im- 

 portant of these incidents will be described in later 

 chapters. Here we need only give a brief account 

 of the way in which some of them affect the daily 

 round of life in the long house. 



A visiting chief will remain seated In his boat, 

 while a follower announces his arrival and ascertains 

 that there is no nialan (tabu) upon the house which 

 would make the presence of visitors unwelcome. 

 Such malan affecting the whole house or village 

 obtains during the storing of the padi for ten 

 consecutive days, during epidemics of sickness in 

 neighbouring villages, and at the time when the 

 preparation of the farm land begins. If a favourable 

 answer is returned, the visitor remains seated in his 



